Weber State University Magazine Spring 2013 : Page 36

Non-profit Org. U.S. POSTAGE Permit No. 151 PAID Department of University Communications 4025 University Circle Ogden, UT 84408-4025 SLC, UT President Wight wishes Marguerite a happy 107 th birthday. zac williams Aging Graciously A lot happened in 1906. President Teddy Roosevelt pushed for progressive reforms. Ford Motor Co. introduced its $500 Model N automobile. Broadway audiences tapped their toes to George M. Cohan’s catchy new song, You’re a Grand Old Flag . The first hotel and casino opened in downtown Las Vegas. The average U.S. worker earned 22 cents per hour. A killer earthquake brought San Francisco to its knees … and a Pennsylvania couple, Samuel and Flora Derr, had a baby girl named Marguerite. Marguerite Derr Groff Flickinger is Weber State University’s oldest living donor. On March 9, 2013, she turned 107. At a private celebration, President Charles Wight presented Marguerite with a purple blanket and led hospice workers and university representatives in a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday . Sporting a megawatt smile and a stylish copper-blonde hairdo, Marguerite waved and blew kisses as 107 helium balloons were released in her backyard. “God still gives me the power to enjoy life,” says Marguerite, who, along with other family members, started a scholarship fund in 1979 to honor her grandson, a gifted student artist who died in a tragic skiing accident. To date, the Douglas P. McFarland Memorial Scholarship in the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities, has helped 25 talented art students pursue their educational dreams. To support the Douglas P. McFarland Memorial Scholarship, or another university scholarship or program, visit weber.edu/give or call 801-626-6138.